It's a very cheesy book and tedious in parts and overall is rather pretentious. The central metaphor, though, makes a brilliant recommendation for someone who

It's a very cheesy book and tedious in parts and overall is rather pretentious. The central metaphor, though, makes a brilliant recommendation for someone who "trusts" HN so much, etc. But... college freshman.... presumed to be "typical" ... hmm... Maybe there's a good dictionary in that price range? The "Concise English Oxford" is about $25, though I haven't personally seen it so can't specifically recommend it. Or, The Fannie Farmer Cookbook? Or something about how to do laundry? Or something about law for tenants in landlord-tenant relations? Perhaps some artsy fartsy book of erotic photos? Oh! Got it! In the same vein as "Zen and the Art of...", how about "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!: Adventures of a Curious Character" by Richard Feynman? p.s., re: "I really enjoyed superfreakenomics and Founders at Work." Which is a good reason to not recommend any books in that vein and to instead suggest books that encourage becoming mature and balanced.